Valve mechanism fob gas-engines



F. L. MORSE.

VALVE MECHANISM FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV-18.1915.

lutontvd July 15, 1919.

2 SHEETS SHEET l APPLICATION FILED NOV. \B. 1915.

Patented July 15, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK L. MORSE, 0F ITHACA, NEW YORK.

VALVE MECHANISM FQR GAS-ENGINES.

. Application filed November 18, 1915. Serial Ila 62,092.

To all 1.3.2 01 it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK L. Mouse, a citzen of the United States, residing at Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins and St ateof New York, have invented a certain new and 'useful Improvement in Valve Mechanism for Gas-Engines, of which improvement the following is a specification.

This invention relates to valve mechanism for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to valves of the rotary type, the principal object being to provide means for increasing the volume flow of gas through a port of the valve at each open period, for a given size of ports and rate of operation.

This feature of my improvement comprises a valve operating mechanism adapted to rotate the valve at a variable speed through each revolution, preferably by accelerating the opening movement and retarding the closing movement, whereby the port remains open for a longer period at each instance than when driven at a uniform speed. This feature may be applied to either the admission or to the exhaust, but preferably to both. Another feature of my invention comprises improved means for maintaining a fluid tight joint bearing between the inlet and discharge ports, and between the ports of adjacent cylinders.

. In the operation of rotary cylindrical valves of. this character, it'has been found that, due to the difiiculty of providing efficient coolingmeans, the valve runs at a much highe temperature than the casing,

and there is a marked difference between'the amount of expansion of the valve casing and of the valve, which results in an excessively tight fitting valve at high temperature, or a wasteful leakage around the valve when the parts are at comparatively low temperature, as when starting the engine. Anotherv feature of my improvement, therefore, comprises a rotary valve formed of a metal having a lower co-eflicient of expansion than the valve casing whereby the same may be made to fit closely in its chamber within the casing when the parts are cold, and expand at' about the same rate as the casing as the tem-.

perature of the parts rise, due to the operation of the engine, the temperature of the valve being then greater than that of the casing. v I 4 In the accompanying drawings: iqure l. is a vertical longitudinal section of a en- Spccification of Letters Patent.

gine showing one form of valve mechanism embodying my improvement; Fig. 2,11 transverse section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a fragmentary view taken in transverse section in another plane and showing one form of device for setting up the packing and sealing strips; Fig. 4, a transverse section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1, with certain parts of the flange plates broken away to more fully show all parts of the mechanism; Fig. 5, a detail view in perspective showing the internal gear connection; Fig. 6, a view similar to Fig. l, but showing a modified form of valve operating mechanism; Fig. 7, a sectional view taken on the line 77 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8, a horizontal sectional View of the mechanism shown in Fig.

6; and Fig. 9, a fragmentary view, in transv the drawings, the engine comprises a frame or casing,-10, containing one, two, or more cylinders, 11, having pistons, 12, the upper portion of the casing being formed with a cylindrical chamber containing the rotary cylindrical valve, 13, located over the tops of the cylinders, and having through ports, 14, adapted to establish communication from the gas supply, 15, and inlet port, 16,-to the cylinder, and from the cylinder to the exhaust port,,17, in certain positions during the revolution of the valve.

In order that the valve may be operated at high speed and yet have the port open a suflicient length of time, I provide an intermediate driving mechanism between the engine shaft and the valve, which operates to turn the valve more slowly during certain parts of its revolution at such times as the ports may be open, than during other portions of the revolution, and for this purpose, I have shown a rotatable element such as a sprocket gear driven from the engine shaft and having a variablespeed driving connec .tion with the valve, One form of such and mounted'to have a limited amount of rotary movement relative to the outer portion. A section of the web portion of the two parts of the sprocket-is cut away to provide space for the connecting means, and forguiding the outer portion on the hub portion, a pair of segmental plates, 22, are secured, one upon each side of the web of the hub portion and outer portion, while another pair of segmental plates, 23, are fastened, one on each Y side of the peripheral portion of the sprocket 23, pivotally connected by the rod, 27,,with the other portion of the sprocket, as shown,

the rod being" pivotally connected to the plates, 22. The rod may be 'adjustable, if

esired, The pinion, 25, meshes with an in- .ternal circular rack, 28, fixed to the casmgor frame.

The ratio b'etweenthe internal rack and the pinion may be made to suit the fornrof valve as to the number of ports and number of cylinders, that shown in the drawings being four to one, thatis, the rack havin four times as many teeth as the. pinion. 1th

this construction, it will be seen that during I each revolution of the sprocket, the pinion will necessarily revolve four times, making our complete revolutions of the crank, 26.

This operates through the rod connection to.

give a variable speed to the hub portion of the sprocket, and consequently to the valve throughout each revolution thereof. When the connecting rod is moving in one direction, with reference to the crank, the-rotary movement of the hub portion'is being retarded relative to the peripheral portion, and when the connecting rod moves in the opposite direction, the rotary movement of the hub portion 1s accelerated relative to that of the periphery. With the four-to one ratio. as shown, the periods-cf the aiscelerated and retarded movements will each be one-ei. fl itli of a complete revolution of the sprocket and the valve, and the preferred arrangement is such that the movement of the valve is accelerated when the port is opening and then retarded as the port 15 closing. By

this u'ieans communication through the port is maintained for a longer period of time at the volume flow of each opening and closin of the samc,'and

or to the exhaust is thereby increased.

In Figs. 6, Tand 8 of the draw ngs. there is shown a modified form of mechanism for cffecting the alternate successive retarded and accelerated movements of the hub portion of the sprocket, and comprising, in lieu of the crank shaft, pinion and rack, a bent lever overlapping the web of the casing,

gas either from the inlet 'pivotally mounte/d at 24, in the plates, 23,

and having one arm, 26. coupled by connecting; rod, 27, with the plates, 22, and the ot 1e 1' arm, 25 provided with a roller, 25", hearing against the inner surface of the cam rlng, 28, fixed upon the casing. In this constructlon the inner surface of the cam ring is formed with the desired number of rises and depressions properly located to produce the requ red oscillatory movement of the'bent lever during the revolution of'the sprocket, and consequently cause the alternate successive retarded and accelerated movements of the sprocket hub and valve, as above described.

According to another feature of my invention, I provide improved means for preventing leakage and escape of gases from the inlet port and cylinder to theexhaust port, said means'comprising a sealing or packing strip, 30, located in a suitable recess in-the longitudinally of the valve, and.between the inlet port, 16, and exhaust port,

.17. The valve is provided with suitable 34, on both sides oftheport,

packing rings, 14, for each cylinder, and the sealing strip, which is arranged longitudinally and bears upon the valve, is of suflicient length to lap ove the packing rings, there being a separate sealing strip for each cylinder, and having a spring actuated means, such as rod, 3].,

spring, 32, and screw plug, 33, shown in Fig.

3, for pressing the sealing strip against the valve and one side of its chamber. for main gaining a fluid tight joint.

There are'preferabl two of the. spring actuated'iods, 31, for each strip, the same being located near theends, and as each of the strips extends beyond the packingrings' I for its respective c linder, it will be seen that an effectual pac ring is provided against the escape of gas'from the inlet port'to the exhaust port. Tlle sealing strip may be provided with longitudinal packing grooves on the side engaglng the. wall .of the chamber against whieh it is'pressed by the spring.

Fig.9 shows it modified spring device in which the spring, 32, acts on a wedge piece, 31, engaging the sealing strip, 30*, and pressing the same against'the valv v and the wall of the chamber; 3,

According to another feature of my linprovement, I construct the valve. 13, of nickehstecl, or some other metal compos tion which has a lower co-ctficient of ex" .pansiontlian-the ordinary cast iron orother the' port, and t shall occur during the closing movement of the port, thereby maintaining communicaq lating watenbut as the co-efiicient of ex pansion' of the valveis less than that of the casing, the total amount of expansion resulting from their res ective temperatures will be substantially t e same, and consequently the valve will be neither so loose as to permit leakage around it when the engine is first started and the parts are cold, nor too tight to operate smoothly and efliciently when the parts are heated up totheir maximum temperatures.

It will now be ,seen that, bymeans of my improvement, the movement of the valve during each revolution will be a series of alternate accelerations and retardations;

and the mechanism is preferably so timed that the latter portion of an acceleration shall occur durin the opening movement of he succeeding retardation tion through said port open for a much I longer period than would otherwise be'the case, and consequently greatly increasing the volume flow of gas therethrough. I

of the respective movements.

The timin and, the num er of accelerations and retardations per revolution may be made to'suit any given conditions as to number of cylinders, location of ports,,etc., by simply changing the proportion ofthe parts, size of gears,

or location of cams, and thereby adapt my improvementto the various different styles and arrangement of engines.

Another advantage derived from this feature of my improvement is that a smaller size of valve may be employed for accomplishing the same work, thereby efiecting a saving in weight andcost and also greatly reducing the amount of gas wasted by means oflthe use of the smaller sized port in the va ve.

Having now-described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent is:

1. In an en no, the combination with a rotary valve avin ports, of a rotatable element driven by t e engine at a substan tially uniform rate, and an intermediate variable speed mechanism so connected as to gradually accelerate the movement of the alve during the opening of the port and to gradually retard said movement during the closing of said port.

2. In an engine, the combination with a rotary valve, of a rotatable gear formed in twoparts, comprising an outer portion driven from the engine and an inner or hub portion connected to said valve, and an in termediate variable speed driving connection between the two portions of the gear.

3. In dn engine, the combination with a rotary valve,'of a rotatable gear formed in two parts, comprising an outer portion driven from'the engine and an inner or hub portion connected to said valve, an element pivotally mounted on one portion and having a rod connecting the same with the other portion of the gear, and means operated by the rotation of the gear for moving said ele ment to reciprocate theconnecting rod.

l. In an engine, the combination with a rotary valve, of a' rotatable gear formed in two parts, comprising an outer portion driven from the engine and an inneror hub portion connected to said valve, an arm pivotally mounted on one portion of the gear, a rod connecting the arm with the other portion of said gear, and means for swinging said arm during the rotation'of the gear. t

5. In an engine, the combination with a rotary valve, of a rotatable gear formed in two parts, comprising an outer portion driven from the engine and an inner or hub portion connected to said valve, and a cam.

portion'ofthe gear, and a cam device for.

oscillating "said element during the revolution of .the gear. 7. In an engine, the combination of a valve casing having inlet and exhaust ports,

-a rotary cylindrical valve mounted therein and having a port for cooperating therewith, a sealing strip mounted in a recess in said casing between said inlet and exhaust ports "and extending longitudinally of the valve,

and aspring for forcing said strip against.- the valve and one'sicle of said recess,

8. In an engine, the combination of a valve casing having inlet and exhaust ports, a ro- 'tary cylindrical valve mounted therein and having a port for coiiperating therewith, a sealing strip mounted in'a recess in said casing between said inlet and exhaust ports and extending longitudinally of the valve, and a spring actuated plunger for pressing said strip against the valve and againstone side of said recess.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set i my hand.

' FRANK L. Moasn. 

